THE Cyprus problem is at a critical turning point and political will is necessary above all to achieve an agreement, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said yesterday.
“The talks are advancing, we have seen progress, but unfortunately not to the degree we would have wanted,” the Greek premier said during a working visit to Cyprus yesterday.
“The Cyprus problem is at a critical turning point.”
He was speaking after talks with the leaders of Cyprus’ political parties at the presidential palace. Before that, the Greek prime minister had a tete-a-tete with President Demetris Christofias.
His “presence here, at a difficult period for Greece, proves the continuous interest of the Prime Minister of Greece and his government for Cyprus and the Cyprus problem,” Christofias said during a joint news conference with Papandreou.
Papandreou said he heard the president’s and the party leaders’ opinions on the talks so far, and there was an exchange between them.
“Negotiating is difficult; it demands hard work, sobriety, patience but above all, the political will to achieve the agreement,” Papandreou said.
Papandreou expressed his support to Cyprus stressing that the island was an independent country and its decisions would be respected.
Cyprus is an independent state, Papandreou said. “Our relation with the Republic of Cyprus is completely different from the current relation between Turkey with Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot community.”
This does not mean that “we do not exchange views or we do not discuss all the aspects to the point we can help,” Papandreou said.
Papandreou said it was not his place to comment on the elections in the north but stressed that the negotiations should continue.
“There is a need to have will: a will to peacefully coexist, find the solutions … so that Cyprus is reunified … and create the necessary trust between Greeks and Turks, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” he said.
After the meeting, the main opposition DISY party said there is a need to formulate a comprehensive European strategy to regain the initiative and “reverse the negative climate”.
DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades also proposed forming a comprehensive negotiating framework, which will bolster the Greek Cypriot side’s credibility on the international stage.
“We hope the Prime Minister’s presence here will create the conditions for a fruitful and substantive discussion in the upcoming three-day session of the National Council,” DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades said.
DIKO leader Marios Garoyian emerged from the meeting saying there was a need to readjust the Greek Cypriot side’s tactics in the talks.
“And when I say tactic we do not mean the goals; we know what we want,” Garoyian told reporters.
He said Turkey should pay the price for the continuing occupation, suggesting there is a lot of room to “readjust our tactic and achieve the best possible result”.
Socialist EDEK chairman Yiannakis Omirou said the party submitted its “known” positions on the current negotiations “that we do not think there is optimism that these talks – based on the position of the Turkish side – will lead to a solution of the Cyprus problem.”
Later yesterday, Papandreou met Archbishop Chrysostomos at the Archbishopric in the old town of Nicosia.
No statements were made after the meeting.
Greek government sources said Papandreou and Christofias did not discuss the recent capital flight from Greece to Cyprus, estimated to be less than €500 million.
